Established in 2006, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society. Scroll down for links to book reviews, Native media, and more.

In US history classes, kids
like Will hear about the bravery of non-Native "explorers"/"discoverers"/Pilgrims/settlers/revolutionaries/pioneers/frontiersmen/the US cavalry.

Sure, they may hear Indigenous men referred to as “braves.”
But will they learn about 500 specific, courageous Native people? Or 100?
Or even … five?

You know whose names they’ll hear, of course – Pocahontas.
Squanto. Sacagawea. Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo. In other words,
they’ll learn about some Native people who are viewed as helpful to the colonizers, and some
of the ones who fought colonization of their homelands. Will (who's now 12) tells me that he and his classmates definitely don’t
hear about contemporary Native people whose courage and commitment make a
difference NOW in their communities and in the wider world.

But we know that
all kids benefit from the affirmation that Native people ARE STILL HERE and are
deeply INVOLVED in the heavy lifting to make the world a better place. It would be Something if, by the time they graduated high school, every student in the US could name a couple dozen Indigenous people who've made a positive difference.

Native kids, of course, may have first-hand knowledge of family members who are writers, artists, activists, scientists, and so on. But it's challenging to find reliable information for young people about noteworthy contemporary Native people. Biographies tend to be problematic. Most are not the work of Native writers. Though supposedly factual, they often contain the same biased language and distorted window on Native lives often seen in fiction. And they're usually about figures in the distant past.

An important exception is the Native Trailblazers Series for teen readers. It’s put out by 7th
Generation Press. Each book features 10 or so profiles of significant people or
groups, most of them still living.

The text is straightforward and engaging, and includes lots of direct
quotes, so readers see what people say about their own
lives and work. The series includes the following four books by journalist Vincent Schilling (St. Regis Mohawk):

American Indian? Or, Native American? There is no agreement among Native peoples. Both are used. It is best to be specific. Example: Instead of "Debbie Reese, a Native American," say "Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman."